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Sep 1, 2020

 Another K.G.George gem from the early eighties, Irakal is the debut film of Ganesh Kumar. I didn't have much of an impression of Ganesh Kumar as an actor till I saw this movie. He makes a pretty decent debut as Baby Matthews the youngest son of a wealthy Christian business family and a closet psychopath - as in he has not come out to the family yet about his psychotic tendencies.

L to R Gopi as the Bishop and Ganesh Kumar as Baby Matthews

I remember a K.G.George interview where he mentions he had modeled Baby's character on Sanjay Gandhi, the younger son and heir apparent (before he died in an untimely air crash) of India's former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. Irakal came out, eight years after Emergency - which was a period of almost two years starting from 1975 when the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi placed the entire country under a state of emergency. It was alleged that Sanjay Gandhi who had no political position ran a police state terrorizing the administration and the people using his mother's position and influence.

L to R  Ganesh Kumar and Ashokan in Irakal

All the characters in the movie are perfectly fleshed out and the script is taut. Actor Sukumaran who produced the movie also plays the role of the alcoholic middle son - Sunny Matthews. Thilakan plays the big daddy rubber baron and family stalwart, Matthews or Mathukkutty. Srividya is the oldest sister and the only girl in the family, and Radha plays Baby's love interest. Venu Nagavalli as usual loses the girl and meets a gory end. Ashokan also gets to play a small part as Baby's local acquaintance.

Irakal was awarded the best ever original Malayalam screenplay thirty years after its release. But the movie was not a commercial success when it hit the theaters in 1985.  It is said that Sukumaran had to make a couple of commercially successful films to recoup the losses he suffered in producing Irakal. It is a very mature film for a discerning audience, probably not the regular movie-goer's cup of tea. 

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